simplest motor vehicle possible

[lemur]

If you were given the task of designing the simplest vehicle possible, what would the components be? Assume at least one or two passengers and possibly some cargo. Also assume you would want it to be able to cruise for extended periods at highway or slightly under highway speeds. By simplicity, I am mainly referring to the number of parts and their complexity. Air-cooled engines seem simpler to me than their water-cooled counterparts, for example. I don't know much about electric motors or other types of combustion engines, e.g. rotary engines.

 

A related issue is how much fuel efficiency advances can be achieved alongside simplification of systems. The air-cooled engines of the VW beetle era were reasonably fuel-efficient for their time, I believe, but I wonder if there is some reason they wouldn't evolve well into the 30+ mpg many cars of today are able to achieve with heavier weight.

[insane_alien]

regarding the fuel efficiency, extra efficiency can be achieved through super/turbo charging, intercoolers and so on but these all add complexity.

 

it won't be as simple as cutting things out increases efficiency.

 

for simplicity( be warned this will be unsafe and uncomfortable, but functional)

 

you would likely want to have an elevated fuel tank to allow for a gravity feed, a reduced gearing system (two or three gears tops) no suspension, chuck the seats(you can sit on the chassis) simple square chassis frame, do away with the steering column and have a bar you move from side to side (essentially, you do the job of the steering rack).

 

no instrumentation

 

and there are various others.

 

again, this is not something you'd want to ride in.

[Schrödinger's hat]

If you want to talk purely in terms of number of parts (again, not safe or comfortable) I'd go electric.

Have a homopolar or simple DC motor direct drive to, or part of the rear axle (no diff/gearbox).

A battery

a switch to turn it on

maybe a variable resistor to reduce the shock as you start moving (what luxury)

a chassis

a single front wheel with handlebar steering

[InigoMontoya]

They're called "go-karts" and they're not street legal.

 

Next!

[lemur]

They're called "go-karts" and they're not street legal.

 

But can go-karts drive all day at @60mph? If so, they can be made street-legal by raising them to the height of a motorcycle so they're visible to passenger cars.

Edited May 1, 2011 by lemur

[CaptainPanic]

TATA Nano?

Apparently it's on sale for around 1500 euro in India.

In Europe, due to stricter regulations, the cheapest version is on sale for about 4000 euro or something.

 

Does this answer the question?

[TonyMcC]

Back in the 1960's I owned a Bond Minicar. You would have difficulty making anything practical that was more simple. It had a two stroke engine (more simple that a 4 stroke), fuel gravity fed from a tank on the bulkhead, rear brakes rod actuated and front brake cable actuated (no hydraulics). No rack and pinion for steering - a simple arrangement swung the whole engine, gearbox and wheel assembly through almost 180 degrees (worm and sector). No heater. I must admit that when I later bought an Austin Mini it was truly luxurious by comparison!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_Minicar

Edited May 2, 2011 by TonyMcC

[SMF]

I knew a guy that had one of these- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_KR175

[TonyMcC]

I knew a guy that had one of these- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_KR175

You got out of those by lifting the canopy on one side. I read a report of someone who made himself a mini garage about three feet high. He drove into his little garage and didn't have enough height to lift the canopy. Having no reverse gear he was stuck for some hours before friends came and pulled him out backwards!

There were a lot of these small vehicles about - many known as Bubble cars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_car